Review of Title Sequence from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Directed by Amy Heckerling
Written by Cameron Crowe
The theatre darkens as the last trailer comes to a close. Suddenly, a mall, the Ridgemont Mall stands across the street from you and all you can here is the bubblegum pop of the Go-Go’s as you cross the street. Inside the mall, you can’t help but stare at all the creatures that inhabit this hub of teens. You watch as a girl bends down to tie her shoes and a boy bends down to see. A dopey-looking fry cook walks, eager-eyed into his cherished employment as girls giggle and point at him. Everywhere you look, teens have infested this indoor market. We are taken from the elevators to the stairs and from the restaurants to the movie theatre and back again. Then, about thirty seconds into the eye-popping flood of ‘80s pop culture, which was just plain pop culture back when the movie came out, you see a girl. She looks barely fifteen and is wearing stripes. I don’t know why, but she looks important, like we’ll see her again. And why not, she works at a pizza place. I like pizza. It seems likely enough that we’ll meet her again. On the other side of the mall, a pimply boy takes tickets at the entrance to the cinema. After a montage of food and arcade games, we come upon the shirtless, fresh-faced Jeff Spicoli, teasing a child as he plays in the arcade. And then our friend who likes to watch girls tie their shoes rides up in the elevator as this title sequence comes to a close.
You may be wondering what’s so great about this. It seems like standard ‘80s film fare. “Why should I be impressed?” you may ask. Well, this all takes place in the first hundred seconds of the film. And Fast Times at Ridgemont High is not just any film. It is the film debut of Nicolas Cage, Forest Whitaker, Eric Stolz, and Anthony Edwards. Also, it just happens to contain one of the most famous scenes of the last 30 years. But today, I am not here to speak of these things. I am here to talk about the opening sequence. To the novice moviegoer, this opening may look like a mediocre start to a film: It is not very exhilarating or exciting. However, this defined the culture of the early 1989s. You have a mall in the middle of the San Fernando Valley, swarming with hormone-infested teens, running it like a city. You have food, clothes, entertainment, and anything else you could want. Also, the director, Amy Heckerling, filmed this sequence herself. Some “auteurs”, like Hitchcock and Welles, outsourced their title sequences to other artists, but not good old Amy Heckerling. She did it by herself, with a cinematographer of course. It is simple, just a shot of a mall from the outside and some sequences detailing the mall’s interior, but it works. With each name, you get a face; something informs the audience of whom this actor or actress is playing. For example, Jennifer Jason Leigh’s name pops up and right behind it is a young-looking brunette in a checkered uniform. That’s Leigh’s character, Stacey. And you know that because her name popped up with her character. This occurs throughout the sequence. Now some may complain about the logo-like presentation of the title at the beginning of the sequence, but that’s what studios wanted back in the early 1980s. Even a real auteur like Amy Heckerling could not avoid such studio influence. But to make up for it, you get the poppy music of the Go-Go’s, singing “We Got The Beat”, their biggest hit. This song really defines the whole sequence. The teens move in a rhythm; they have the beat, shuffling from place to place and moving like clockwork from arcade to restaurant, down escalators and up stairs. The title sequence is essentially a slice-of-life piece on Southern California teens. It could stand alone as a little short on Californian teens and their habits at the mall, and it would be great. But it is the introduction to what is, in my humble opinion, the greatest piece of teen comedy film every created.
Review of Title Sequence from Fast Times at Ridgemont High (1982)
Directed by Amy Heckerling
Written by Cameron Crowe
The theatre darkens as the last trailer comes to a close. Suddenly, a mall, the Ridgemont Mall stands across the street from you and all you can here is the bubblegum pop of the Go-Go’s as you cross the street. Inside the mall, you can’t help but stare at all the creatures that inhabit this hub of teens. You watch as a girl bends down to tie her shoes and a boy bends down to see. A dopey-looking fry cook walks, eager-eyed into his cherished employment as girls giggle and point at him. Everywhere you look, teens have infested this indoor market. We are taken from the elevators to the stairs and from the restaurants to the movie theatre and back again. Then, about thirty seconds into the eye-popping flood of ‘80s pop culture, which was just plain pop culture back when the movie came out, you see a girl. She looks barely fifteen and is wearing stripes. I don’t know why, but she looks important, like we’ll see her again. And why not, she works at a pizza place. I like pizza. It seems likely enough that we’ll meet her again. On the other side of the mall, a pimply boy takes tickets at the entrance to the cinema. After a montage of food and arcade games, we come upon the shirtless, fresh-faced Jeff Spicoli, teasing a child as he plays in the arcade. And then our friend who likes to watch girls tie their shoes rides up in the elevator as this title sequence comes to a close.
You may be wondering what’s so great about this. It seems like standard ‘80s film fare. “Why should I be impressed?” you may ask. Well, this all takes place in the first hundred seconds of the film. And Fast Times at Ridgemont High is not just any film. It is the film debut of Nicolas Cage, Forest Whitaker, Eric Stolz, and Anthony Edwards. Also, it just happens to contain one of the most famous scenes of the last 30 years. But today, I am not here to speak of these things. I am here to talk about the opening sequence. To the novice moviegoer, this opening may look like a mediocre start to a film: It is not very exhilarating or exciting. However, this defined the culture of the early 1989s. You have a mall in the middle of the San Fernando Valley, swarming with hormone-infested teens, running it like a city. You have food, clothes, entertainment, and anything else you could want. Also, the director, Amy Heckerling, filmed this sequence herself. Some “auteurs”, like Hitchcock and Welles, outsourced their title sequences to other artists, but not good old Amy Heckerling. She did it by herself, with a cinematographer of course. It is simple, just a shot of a mall from the outside and some sequences detailing the mall’s interior, but it works. With each name, you get a face; something informs the audience of whom this actor or actress is playing. For example, Jennifer Jason Leigh’s name pops up and right behind it is a young-looking brunette in a checkered uniform. That’s Leigh’s character, Stacey. And you know that because her name popped up with her character. This occurs throughout the sequence. Now some may complain about the logo-like presentation of the title at the beginning of the sequence, but that’s what studios wanted back in the early 1980s. Even a real auteur like Amy Heckerling could not avoid such studio influence. But to make up for it, you get the poppy music of the Go-Go’s, singing “We Got The Beat”, their biggest hit. This song really defines the whole sequence. The teens move in a rhythm; they have the beat, shuffling from place to place and moving like clockwork from arcade to restaurant, down escalators and up stairs. The title sequence is essentially a slice-of-life piece on Southern California teens. It could stand alone as a little short on Californian teens and their habits at the mall, and it would be great. But it is the introduction to what is, in my humble opinion, the greatest piece of teen comedy film every created.
The Title Sequence: